MUSA QALA: Disgruntled Afghan soldiers dish out five-dollar dinner plates of fried rice and potatoes to US Marines at a camp on the frontline against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

This culinary sideline, which supplements the US forces' spartan rations, helps the Afghans save enough cash to bribe their commander to give them time off to see their families, the men say. Some never return.

Speaking in secret afterwards, the Afghan troops told AFP that because they are ethnic minorities in the country's Pashtun-heavy army, bribery is the only way they can make sure their Pashtun commander gives them a break.